If the sales tax in your city is $8.5\%$, how much tax would you pay for an item that costs $\$86$ before tax? Round to the nearest cent.
Solution: In order to find the amount of sales tax you would pay, multiply the sales tax by the original price of the item. ${8.5\%} \times {\$86} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $8.5\%$ is equivalent to $8.5 \div 100$ $8.5 \div 100 = 0.085$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. Round to the nearest cent. $0.085$ $\times$ $$86$ = $$7.31$ You would pay $$7.31$ in sales tax.